VELUX to Sponsor One of the World's Toughest Solo Yacht Races

Today, VELUX announced a new global sponsorship agreement. The agreement makes the Danish company the main sponsor of 5 Oceans, one of the world's oldest, toughest and most prestigious solo, round-the-world yacht races.

On 22 October next year, when the racing yachts leave Bilbao on the northern coast of Spain bound for Australia, it will be with the VELUX name on their mainsails and with the Danish company as race sponsors. As of today, VELUX is the main event sponsor, meaning that – in addition to the race being called VELUX 5 Oceans for the next two years – VELUX will gain access to a completely new global platform from which to market its brand name.

For VELUX, the sponsorship means direct access to yachting's vast audience around the world, to the event's numerous marketing channels ranging from print media to the broadband TV channel, plus a host of race-related activities and events where the VELUX companies can network and develop their relations with clients, employees and other stakeholders.

"5 Oceans is the perfect match for our brand, values, strategies and markets. Today, we are a global group with companies in more than 40 countries and as such we need a global event to unite us. VELUX works with daylight in buildings and thus with the natural environment's importance for our well-being. Our focus on daylight, fresh air and clear views harmonises perfectly with yachting. In addition, 5 Oceans originated in precisely the continents in which VELUX is represented, namely Europe, the USA and Australia. The VELUX 5 Oceans is an exhilarating yachting challenge with distinct features which unite it with VELUX ambitions: mastering the elements and having the commitment to push boundaries," explains Jørgen Tang-Jensen, CEO of VELUX A/S

Around the world
Following their detour to Australia, the field will set course for the US eastern seaboard, and the final Herculean challenge will be the home leg across the Atlantic Ocean en route to Spain. By the time the sailors have returned to Bilbao's Getxo harbour they will have been out on the ocean for five months, and the hard-pressed yachtsmen and women and their craft will have put more than 30,000 nautical miles behind them or the equivalent of 55,000 kilometres. In the course of the race they will have experienced first hand the full ferocity of the elements – alone in the biting cold, swelling seas, storms and severe weather conditions. All this combined with total physical and mental exhaustion.

"Both VELUX and the 5 Oceans' yachtsmen and women compete to be the best in their field. It is about giving your best all the time – every time despite wind, bad weather and other conditions - just as our company and its products must always deliver the very best under all conditions – regardless of cold, storms or bad weather. Externally, we will use the sponsorship to generate focus on VELUX and internally as a focal point for our employees around the globe where the yacht race will serve as a living symbol of the VELUX values of commitment, mutual respect, improvements, initiative and thoroughness," says Jørgen Tang-Jensen.

Meeting of the best
Clipper Ventures Plc, owners of the rights to 5 Oceans, is also delighted to welcome the new sponsor on board.

"We are extremely proud that a company with such a strong brand as VELUX has wanted to become chief sponsor of the 5 Oceans' event. With VELUX aboard, we can maintain 5 Oceans' top ranking among the yachting elite. This sponsorship is an example of the best from one world teaming up with the best from another," says Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, himself a yachting legend and Board Chairman of Clipper Ventures.

5 Oceans is one of the world's most professional global sports events. The race is among the toughest individual sports in the world. In fact, 10 times as many people have succeeded in climbing Mount Everest than have completed 5 Oceans. The yachtsmen and women in 5 Oceans are awarded points for each leg of the multi-leg race, adding to the excitement of 5 Oceans and heightening the sense of competitive spirit at each new stage.

Read more at www.VELUX5Oceans.com.